Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird author buried in Alabama

Harper Lee, who died Friday at age 89, was eulogized at a church in the small Alabama town of Monroeville, which the author used as a model for the imaginary town of Maycomb, the setting of Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

A few dozen family members gathered at the First United Methodist Church to hear a eulogy from her longtime friend and history professor Wayne Flint.

‘Rest in peace, Harper Lee.

Tickets for the city’s annual “Mockingbird” play go on sale in a week for the city’s annual “To Kill A Mockingbird” play, Mote said.

Millions who thought they “knew” Atticus Finch, who named their children for him and became lawyers because of him were faced with a seemingly different man in the new book, which took place 20 years later but actually had been written before Lee turned to what became “To Kill a Mockingbird”.

Lee was largely unseen in her hometown in recent years, as she first sought privacy and then was secluded at an assisted living home. But as Scout’s favourite Uncle Jack tells her, “Every man’s island, every man’s watchman, is his conscience”, just like her father did when she was little, and that’s Harper Lee’s biggest legacy: inculcating a deep sense of right and wrong in every individual.

In 1962, it was made into a film starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Scout. “Name one that really has had more of an impact on Americans than that book”. “Harper Lee was ahead of her time and her masterpiece “To Kill a Mockingbird” prodded America to catch up with her”, he said.

Publisher HarperCollins said Lee was not only a brilliant writer, but also “an extraordinary woman of great joyfulness, humility and kindness” who lived as she wanted – “in private – surrounded by books and the people who loved her”.

On Friday, U.S. political and cultural figures mourned Lee’s death, crediting her with helping to promote tolerance and quoting her with admiration in social media and formal statements.

Lee’s state of mind would become an issue previous year when plans were announced to publish “Go Set a Watchman”.

One of Harper Lee’s friends said Finch’s fight for justice inspired countless lawyers. Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and others have labeled the book a “white saviour” novel, but McBride believes that “Mockingbird” is the best story that Lee could have told.

When discussing the late, great Harper Lee, whodied on February 19, most seem to use the word “reclusive”. “You have to start the conversation about race somewhere, and Harper Lee is a great place to start it”.

Lee’s sister said the authors eventually fell out because Capote was jealous of Lee’s Pulitzer, which she won in 1961.

“Yes, I would have liked to see the black characters displayed with a lot more dimension”, he said.